Quail Hill Farm

Entering its 5th year in 2024, Quail Hill Farm and The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center (aka, The Center) continue our impactful, and much-needed, one-of-a-kind partnership on the East End. The Farm to Food Pantry Program brings organically and sustainably grown produce from Quail Hill Farm to The Center’s food pantry – and because QHF donor support underwrites the cost of growing and distributing this produce, cost is not a barrier for the farm or The Center.

How this partnership came to be.

The program began in March 2020 when a Quail Hill Farm member made a $5,000 gift with the desire to get fresh produce from the farm to people in need. This donation sparked an “ah-ha!” moment: we saw that the farm had an opportunity to reach even more people in need with our produce, provided we could figure out a way to cover the costs and meet the needs of members of our community.

With the knowledge that The Center operated a small food pantry that served people across the South Fork, Farm Director Layton Guenther contacted The Center’s Executive Director, Bonnie Cannon. Bonnie shared some staggering numbers: before the onset of COVID-19, The Center’s food pantry operated once a month and provided food to 70 people. By March of 2020, that number rose to about 450 people per week (and by the end of 2020, The Center was providing food to 700 or more people per week). After the initial conversation with The Center about a potential collaboration, Trust and farm staff put together a budget that would cover the costs to provide fresh produce to The Center through the 2020 growing season.

Thanks to an initial $25,000 grant from All for the East End (AFTEE) at the Long Island Community Foundation (LICF), and additional donations from farm and community members, the farm raised $55,000 in its first year to enable direct distribution of produce from our Amagansett fields to Bridgehampton. This budget enabled an 18-week Farm to Food Pantry program to thrive: Quail Hill farmers picked, packed, and delivered over 22,000lbs of vegetables to The Center — usually all in the same day, which is key to ensuring peak nutritiousness of the food. Among many other crops, the farm delivered over 1,500 bunches of collard greens and kale, 2,000lbs of tomatoes, and 1,000lbs each of sweet peppers, potatoes, winter squash and sweet potatoes.

The need is still great, and we need your help!

In 2024, our Farm to Food Pantry program continues for its 5th year in partnership with our friends at The Center. Our first four seasons raised over $206,000, and as in past years, for this program to continue, we need donations to support it.

Before our program began, the amount of fresh produce The Center distributed to their clients was very limited and relied mostly on donated produce (meaning that quantity and quality were very unpredictable). By establishing a direct connection between The Center’s food pantry and a local farm, this program models an efficient and reliable means to distribute local produce to people most in need – and it supports the food pantry, the farm, and the local economy. And because this program is funded, it does not rely on the farm having excess produce available to donate – rather, the produce that The Center receives is prioritized for growth in the same way that all of the farm’s produce is. Funding allows the farm to plan, and this in turn allows The Center to not only provide fresh, locally grown produce to its clients on a consistent basis, but also enables them to reallocate their spending toward meat, other proteins, and non-perishable items.

In 2023, we saw a significant drop-off in donations in support of this program. While The Center’s food pantry is not serving as many people as it did during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, its’ need far exceeds pre-pandemic levels. And Quail Hill Farm can respond to that need with local farm-fresh produce, but not if we lose money doing so. We need your help to enable this program to continue.

To learn more or to make a donation in support of the Farm to Food Pantry program, contact Senior Manager of Major & Planned Gifts, Alison Delaney, at 631.283.3195 ext. 144, or Director of Quail Hill Farm, Layton Guenther, at 631.267.8492.

Layton Guenther, Director of Quail Hill Farm

Madison Aldrich, Farm Manager

Hi, I’m Madison (she/her), but you can call me Madi! This will be my third season as Farm Manager and fifth season at Quail Hill overall, having started as an Advanced Apprentice back in 2020. I am a third generation Bonacker, and grew up in East Hampton, in the northwest woods area. I attended the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry up in Syracuse, NY and was pulled back home shortly after graduating to continue my passion in farming. I feel incredibly honored to be able to tend this silt loam soil and feed my community! If you see me in the fields, I will probably be fixated on what I’m working on, but it is a goal of mine to get to know you all more this season so please don’t hesitate to pull me aside to chat 🙂

Experience Quail Hill Farm at Home

Click here for a slew of recipes contributed over the years by Quail Hill Farm members and compiled by farm member Jane Weissman!

Quail Hill Farm Through the Seasons: Photos by Michael Halsband

Check out our blog and see all the beautiful moments photographer Michael Halsband captured at the farm over 2017.

A Virtual Tour? Check out Alec Hirschfeld’s documentary video, Out Here in the Fields: Quail Hill Farm:

A central part of our mission at Quail Hill is to educate the public concerning such issues as soil health, our seed supply, food security, and sustainable, organic farming practices. Connecting people with land in this way builds a community that will appreciate and support the stability, integrity, and beauty of the bioregion.

Check out this video by My Long Island TV for a virtual tour of the farm!

And this interview by The Kitchn featuring poet/farmer Scott Chaskey, former Director of Quail Hill Farm, talking about what it means to be part of a CSA: